Impeach This!

Those folks still chomping at the bit for a Dann impeachment will have to wait at least a weekend longer, and educated guessing puts the wait at a lot longer than that, too.

Governor Ted Strickland notes in a Columbus Dispatch interview that any impeachment should hold to a strict standard, even as strict as that required for an indictment. Of course, there's an old joke about prosecutors getting a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich but we'll keep ourselves focused on the real-life and away from lunch.

On tonight's PBS 45/49 NewsNight Akron reporter chat-fest we continue to play more NewsNight Dann with updates on the current spate of political thinking of the Dann mess, how Democrats are now stepping back a bit from their rush to push Dann out with impeachment pressure talk and how the GOP is the slow-things-down and let's deliberate positioning led by Medina County Republican Bill Batchelder. No real surprises, but tying an impeachment to an indictment raises the bar considerably in a case that so far has a slimy but decidedly non-criminal act on the part of the Attorney General: straying from the home fires is not a crime. It is certainly stupid and disrespectful to the woman he promised to love and honor, and it may be grounds to pursue civil sexual harassment and nasty workplace lawsuits, but it isn't exactly criminal activity.

That said, the ongoing probe by the Ohio State Highway Patrol may be the best opportunity to determine if laws were broken. In similar fashion to Richard Nixon in the 70s and Bill Clinton in the 90s, the big question becomes what did he know and when did he know it? Did Dann have knowledge his top communications aide, as noted in the AG's own investigation, advised a co-worker and friend to sidestep investigator questions? Did disgraced former aide Tony Gutierrez really have mob connections as insinuated when showing off to the ladies? Did any connections play a part in illegal use of state vehicles, expenses or even campaign-paid reimbursements?

Without answers to the questions of criminal behavior -- even misdemeanor -- all the talk of impeachment is just talk. While Ohio's law is pretty broad on reasons to impeach it does mention breaking the law, even a misdemeanor, and so far Dann himself is guilty of poor management at the office and poor performance as an elected official and husband.

If those are impeachable offenses let's get ready to fill lots of government positions.

- - -

Program note: WAKR's Ray Horner had an in-studio appearance scheduled for Monday morning's show with Dann, but the Attorney General office is backing away and scrubbed the appearance. No brain surgery here on the why, especially with his request honored by the Beacon Journal to not record his appearance before their editorial board (neither audio nor video); Steve Hoffman reminds me and readers of his column that Dann was very insistent there is "nothing" they can hold him to that would be criminal.

- - -

A very personal observation on why CAK is a better way to go than CLE: I had a business trip to Washington, D.C. at mid-week that had me use Baltimore-Washington rather than Reagan National (about $700 reasons to fly BWI) and put up with the inconvenience of a 45-minute train ride ($12 round trip) into D.C. As always the airport in Cleveland appears dirtier and worn-out, especially in comparing new terminal areas at BWI. This trip the security at CLE was a breeze but when I returned once again it was a hassle using Concourse D where Continental's baby regional flights terminate. That's the half-mile jaunt using a mix of moving sidewalks and two sets of four-story stairs or escalators, and again moving is a relative term. This time the four sets of moving sidewalks did work but the up escalator to the main terminal didn't. For all the business CLE gets can't they keep these things working? Conversations with total strangers familiar with both airports have a clear preference for Akron-Canton; if only some of the flight schedules were more convenient.